The hail and rain have caused considerable damage to our growers’ crops in the south of the Netherlands, Belgium, and the north of France. The crops have been damaged or have developed rotten roots due to flooded plots of land. In addition to damaged crops, the harvest and repotting processes have not been going smoothly. Unfortunately, this will hinder the supply of several products from the affected regions. In particular, there has been a delay to the supply of the first summer vegetables, such as carrots and spinach, and the following harvests, such as French beans, are problematic.

GroentenFruit Huis emphasises that many growers find themselves in severe emergency conditions, which affect both greenhouse and outdoor growers. ‘While the damaged greenhouses are covered by insurance in the majority of cases, the problems in terms of sales and consequential loss are just as severe and are often not covered,’ says director Richard Schouten. ‘Take outdoor cultivation as an example: in terms of perennial plans such as asparagus and blueberries, it is extremely difficult to predict the long-term consequences of rotting roots. Trade will suffer as a result of difficult supply conditions to customers such as supermarkets and food service companies.’

Versland Selection offers professional cultivation support and works closely with its customers and growers in order to offer the best possible solution in the face of problematic supply conditions. Growers with scattered plots and crops are investigated the option of converting crops or switch to different crops. Growers from overseas are being contracted on a temporary basis in order to meet the supply contract in the retail sector and processing industry. Versland Selection is currently struggling to meet the demand and quality requirements. However, whether this will remain the case over the next twelve months will be determined by the speediness of the recovery.

Customers of Versland Selection are aware of and understand the problems in the sector, but are taken to task by less understanding end customers in the chain. The end customers are often less aware of the consequences of weather damage, and are often less willing to adjust their consumption habits accordingly.

Watch a video of one of our growers here